Sarah Palin: Red, white and shoes

PASADENA, CA–Did I go to this morning’s TCA breakfast with Sarah Palin? You betcha.The former Governor of Alaska was at press tour to promote her involvement with the Sportman Channel, a service which, we’re told, promotes a “red, white and blue lifestyle.”Basically the folks at the channel believe that being connected to the outdoors defines being American.The president of the network says you won’t see dudes in hats with hooks kissing fish on his service. The clip showed dudes jumping out of things and eating moose and stuff.The big draw, of course, was Palin, who caused a near riot a few years ago at press tour when she worked an NBC evening event poolside at the Beverly Hilton.Here at the Langham, things were a little less giddy. Palin walked in on these wild pumps that looked like two American flags. Her daughter, we learned later, ordered them for her on-line. As veteran TCA wit Barry Garron quipped, “they probably come from China.”She seemed more slender than she looked at the NBC fiasco and later mentioned she was on an a macrobiotic diet, except, “instead of plastic on our food, it is wrapped in fur.”Palin took the podium and it was easy to see why she was so effective (albeit polarizing) as a political candidate. She rocked the room and is a sound bite sorceress. “I’m glad to be here because I love critics!” she joked. “I can’t beat this combination for pleasure!”Palin talked about her outdoorsy lifestyle. She invited us all up to Alaska. “Let us take you ice fishing in our front yard.” She instructed husband Todd, sitting at a table in the room, to put on an “extra helping of chilli.”She got in her digs, saying she was more excited about this project than some “other projects” she’s been involved in lately. Don’t think she was targeting her series with Mark Burnett, although she said this new Sportsman series, Amazing America with Sarah Palin, is going to be a more authentic look at her family and their lifestyle.Her quote od the tour: “I want to see more young women holding a fish in America than holding a camera in front of a bathroom mirror doing a selfie.” You could actually see reporters dive for their tweeters.We were told Palin would “bee-bop around the room” and visit us all individually at our tables but we knew that wasn’t going to happen. Pallin was quickly scrummed and the Cable PR folks started getting antsy. A large gentleman in the security business did not leave the ex-governor’s side throughout her brief walkabout.Me? I just wanted to ask her what she’d say to Toronto mayor Rob Ford. Never got a chance, but did chat about Ford with good-natured Todd, who positively beamed at the mere mention of hizhonor’s name.“He’s something, isn’t he?” said Todd. If Ford can get his ass to Alaska, I’m pretty sure there’s a pot of moose chilli up there with his name on it.

Bill Brioux is one of the leading voices on the Canadian media and television scene. Besides contributing weekly to The Canadian Press, his stories also regularly appear in The Toronto Star, Hello! Canada and Movie Entertainment magazine. He’s the driving force behind The TV on Film Project, an initiative to find, preserve and screen “lost” Canadian Television.

His book, “Truth & Rumors: The Reality Behind TV’s Most Famous Myths,” is available from Greenwood Publishing.